What? Lego Loses Its Unique Right To Make Lego Blocks?

[melonkernel]

I almost spilled my coffee yesterday when i read this slashdot article:
http://entertainment.slashdot.org/artic ... 12/1534206

"The European Department of Justice has decided that the Danish company Lego does not have exclusive rights to the lego building block anymore (sorry, it's in Dutch). Lego went to court after a Canadian firm had made blocks that were so like lego blocks that they even fit the real blocks made by Lego. The European judge decided that the design of the lego blocks is not protected by European trademarks and so anyone can make the blocks."

If true, hopefully this will open doors for people interested in inexpensive bulk purchase of bricks of specific sizes and colors. Perhaps at long last I can build a life-sized Hemos statue for my office.

Feels a bit sad if it is true. On the other side, castle bricks could become cheap. But it wouldn't feel right.

Tried to google it, but didn't find more sources (other than the dutch article the slashdot article refers to). Sounds like a thing that would get more news covering.

[Peppermint Pig]

Canadian firm? Are they referring to Megabloks??

Slashdot article lacks details.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/11/12/ ... s/lego.php

From the Article: "While Lego won an EU trademark on the blocks' shape in 1999, Mega Brands, Lego's biggest competitor in the market for snap-together toys, objected.

Mega Brands, based in Montreal, successfully argued that the shapes of Lego's bricks served a clear purpose and could not be protected."

Yeah, Mega Brands must mean Megabloks.

From the Article: "Lego had argued that the knobs on top of its bricks made them "highly distinctive" and eligible for a trademark. The agency ruled the toys could not be protected because their shape served a technical purpose."

It sounds to me like Lego lawyers are just trying to strong-arm their position in the marketplace.

FTA: "EU trademark law "precludes registration of any shape" that is "sufficient to obtain the intended technical result," the court said. This is the law "even if that result can be achieved by other shapes.""

So in other words, Lego is upset that they can't protect the round 'stud'?


If you live by government protectionism in intellectual property, then you shouldn't complain when you suffer the consequences of such.

This ruling is actually a GOOD THING for Lego. It means they will have to do a better job competing, which means prices may come down.

I will continue to buy Lego because of their quality and my affection for the brand. Using forceful tactics and lawyers makes me less inclined to support them.

[sirJacob]

hi man, that is truly sad!
I would not sink that low so I would by fake Lego!
But I know that others might do it. Thats why this might be a good thing for us Lego fans all over the world, With other brands the prices will fall and lego will have to make awsome sets all the time to beat the competition!

But still I hope this is untrue!

And by the way, have you seen how it goes for Megablocks! It sucks, and people try to sell their crapp on E-bay but no one buys it! So I would not be so worried...


by the way melonkernel, if you seriously think about bying cheap castle parts thats fake, then you and I have to talk! I promise to by you more lego if that's the case
Because:
There's no prize on you're soul, mate!

[Brickzone]

This ruling is actually a GOOD THING for Lego. It means they will have to do a better job competing, which means prices may come down.

The error in logic here in saying that this is a good thing, is that Lego may end up not going a good job competing (perhaps even just due to not being able to sell their precision manufactured bricks as cheap as poor-quality knock-offs). In the end, it is entirely possible for Lego to go out of business.

The idea that a free market always sorts everything out to the consumer's benefit is entirely false. It just means that the companies cutting the most corners, conning people the best, using every trick in the book to acheive dominance and then leverage that - those are the companies that win, and they rarely are interested in selling the customer what they want. Avoiding this cut-throat race to the lowest common denominator is one reason for having sufficient government regulation.

I sincerely hope that the way the world economy is going, it will finally mean that people stop drinking this "free market is good" kool-aid.

And of course competition can be beneficial in some circumstances, but I don't agree that this is one of them. There is enough competition for Lego with other toys being sold.

[Aliencat]

Wasn't this already like this in the USA though?
It's only in the EU where Lego will have to compete harder with Mega Bloks from now on, for the USA market this doesn't change much, Mega Bloks was already stacked high in every toystore there.

Yeah, Mega Brands must mean Megabloks.

Mega Brands is the name of the company that produces Mega Bloks.

[TriUmp]

Ouch, sad story.
Hopefully most Lego fan won't be fooled into buying the cheaper alternatives. Because that is just evil.

[Aliencat]

Ouch, sad story.
Hopefully most Lego fan won't be fooled into buying the cheaper alternatives. Because that is just evil.

Lego fans will always buy Lego over Mega Bloks, the main issue I think is parents of children that want to buy something for their kids. All they'll see is a Lego set with 400 parts for $39.99, and a Mega Bloks set with 500 parts for $24.99 so they'll go for the Mega Bloks.

[Username]

Lego fans will always buy Lego over Mega Bloks, the main issue I think is parents of children that want to buy something for their kids. All they'll see is a Lego set with 400 parts for $39.99, and a Mega Bloks set with 500 parts for $24.99 so they'll go for the Mega Bloks.

And I think Mega Bloks are a good alternative for parents or kids who can't afford Lego. Lego is expensive (but so worth it if you can afford it)!

[timber_wolf899]

Brickzone, comrad!

I must disagree. No system is perfect, but the free market is the best we got.

This ruling makes me nervous, but we must hae faith in lego. They can and will trash MB and any other compeditor who tries to do building blocks on the cheap. so, bring it!

[Crusader]

First let me knock back a flagon of kool-aid...ah refreshing! Competition has for the most part been good for Lego, and certainly has been very good for Lego consumers. Lego came close to running itself out of business just a few years ago with almost no help from competitors, and perhaps they would have if they didn't have competitors like Megablocks to focus on.

In recent years, Lego has turned a profit in a receding toy market. They've reduced their operating costs while improving the set designs. Their customer service remains second to none, while listening much more to what their customers want.

I don't blame Lego for taking Megablocks to court. They certainly are just leeching off 50 years of Lego's hard work. But they've done Lego some favors as well.

No free market, no Lego.

[Blueandwhite]

This case was previously heard by the Supreme Court of Canada. Unfortunately, in both instances Megabloks won the day. I guess the thing that has always irked me about this case isn't that Megabloks copied LEGO, but that the bricks are directly compatible. I mean, it wouldn't be an issue if Megabloks were slightly smaller/larger, but the fact that they are interchangable with genuine LEGO bricks is rather annoying. Still, I can't see how LEGO can claim a trademark on a design that is purely functional.


Oh well.

[baniaj2]

I will be honest, I have sunken low and purchased knock-offs; worse. I live in CT. But, I only did this after Lego decimated their stateside presence.

I did not have the cash for Lego, so I made do. Calling it "sinking so low" is insulting for those that do not have the cash for the parts they need.

Regardless, LEGO's strength will always be their exact pressure for interconnecting and releasing, strong enough to hold, weak enough to be pulled apart by kids.

That's it, just wanted to speak up for the po' folks.

[timber_wolf899]

ban, giv eme a break man!

insulting? come now.

The price diff is not so great such that one who could not at all afford building toys can now do so.

All the price diff does is give you 400 crappy bricks rather than 300 good ones, no?

[Peppermint Pig]

This case was previously heard by the Supreme Court of Canada. Unfortunately, in both instances Megabloks won the day. I guess the thing that has always irked me about this case isn't that Megabloks copied LEGO, but that the bricks are directly compatible. I mean, it wouldn't be an issue if Megabloks were slightly smaller/larger, but the fact that they are interchangable with genuine LEGO bricks is rather annoying. Still, I can't see how LEGO can claim a trademark on a design that is purely functional.


Oh well.

You ought to be irked, of course!

Because another company with an inferior product tried to ride on the success of Lego. They shouldn't be banned from competing, but that doesn't mean we can't get upset about finding all of this third party lego compatible junk in used collections when we buy used from ebay, garage sales, or ad buys.

That's how I see it anyways. I hate having to sort through non-lego. On the positive side, I have several large ziploc bags full of 'fakes', and I'm ready to sell them, calling them what they are (megabloks, tyco, etc) to people who don't care whether it's Lego or not.

For people who can't afford new Lego and need toys for their kids, I perform a service by offering used Megabloks that I have no use for.

[ClassicCastlesetsftw]

Well I have known lego bricks since i was 4 years old(i am currently 25) and i remember when my aunt, not knowing what she was buying, bought me a megablocks set. Well i tried to assemble it but the quality of the pieces were so horrid you had to use a hammer to get them to go together. The experience was so horrid that my aunt apologized to me and said she didnt know and would get me real lego bricks from then on. If most of the megablock customers get experiences like i did then i doubt they will buy more megablocks(or as i like to call them, megaJunks) and either find a different type of toy or buy Lego bricks.